Ship mounted ice breaking system

ABSTRACT

In abstract, a preferred embodiment of this invention is a ship capable of cruising at relatively high speed in open water while still having capability of breaking up large ice floes with a combination of a saw toothed upwardly biased, under ice stressing member and an above ice, downwardly projecting, variable position, chisel type ice cracking means.

United States Patent Upchurch, Jr.

[54] SHIP MOUNTED ICE BREAKING SYSTEM [72] lnventor: Thomas B. Upchurch, Jr., 101 Magnolia St., Raeford, NC. 28376 May 15, 1970 [22] Filed:

[21] Appl. No.:

1 1 1 [58] Field ofSearch ..114/40-42;

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,205,013 11/1916 Pratt ..299/24 X 51 June 20, 1972 3,335,686 8/1967 Pontbriandetal. ..114/42 3,130,701 4/1964 Langballe ..114/40 Primary ExaminerTrygve M. Blix Attamey-John G. Mills, 111

57 ABSTRACT In abstract, a preferred embodiment of this invention is a ship capable of cruising at relatively high speed in open water while still having capability of breaking up large ice floes with a combination of a saw toothed upwardly biased, under ice stressing member and an above ice, downwardly projecting, variable position, chisel type ice cracking means.

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures P'AT'ENTEDJuH20 I972 SHEET 10% 2 THOMAS INVENTOR. U HURCH, JR.

ATTORNEY SHEET 2 BF 2 ll/l THOMAS ATT ORNEY SHIP MOUNTED ICE BREAKING SYSTEM DESCRIPTION This invention relates to ships and more particularly to merchant type ships capable of navigating through relatively thickly frozen ice floes and ice packs carrying relatively heavy cargos without assistance from other ships.

Since the Germans developed the first practical ice breaker in 1871, the basic concept during the past century to the present has remained basically the same. This concept of breaking ice requires a specialized ship with a reinforced steel bow having an entrance angle of between 23 and 33. The principle of operation of these specially designed ice breaking ships is to charge up onto the thick ice and then crush it with the weight of the ship. It then backs off and rams again thus breaking a channel. Using this principle of ice breaking requires heavier ships for thicker ice. For work in the very thick ice of the Arctic, Russia has developed specialized ships weighing up to 15,000 tons having engines that develop 22,000 horsepower with a length of 400 feet, a width of 80 feet and draft of 34 feet. For specialized use in the Antarctic and other cold climates, the United States Navy has built ships weighing over 8,600 tons with engines developing 21,000 horsepower. Even with such massive weight and power, these ships are only capable of breaking through and shattering ice feet thick. Because of the great weight of the special nickelsteel alloy bows and reinforced sides and bottoms of present day ice breaking ships, they are incapable of carrying any substantial amount of cargo. These ships are used for the specialized purpose of breaking navigable passages through frozen ice fields with thin hull cargo and tanker ships following.

In extremely cold climates, even the above described techniques are impractical because the opening passages refreeze almost immediately upon the passing of the ice breaking ship.

To overcome some of these problems and to create a cargo carrying ship capable of making its own passage through thick ice, a 1,000-foot-long 150,000-ton ship having 43,000 horsepower has had a reinforced bow and armor plated prow added to it which creates a ship over nine times heavier and twice as powerful as any ice breaker heretofore known. Even with this tremendous power and weight to break through and crush the ice, this ship has become stuck and required a standard ice breaking ship to break her loose. To even further exemplify the questionable success of attempts to create commercial type ships capable of passing through frozen seas, due to the peculiarly shaped bow required to allow the ship to run up on the ice during the crushing operation, the open water speed of the ship is substantially reduced thus requiring a much longer passage time.

The present invention has been developed after much research and study into the above mentioned problems and is designed to allow conventionally constructed merchant ships, whether cargo or tanker type, to cruise in open water at normal speeds while at the same time allowing such ship to move through even thickly frozen seas without the assistance or accompanyment of specially adapted ice breaking ships. To accomplish this end an inflatable, toothed, under-ice stressing member is hingedly secured to the forward portion of a merchant ship of conventional hull design with a pivotable, heavy duty, impact type chisel mounted on the forward deck of the ship to crack the ice along the stress lines created by the stressing member.

It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide a ship type ice-breaking means adapted to be used on a merchant type ship which does not impede the ship's operation in open water.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ship ice-breaking means which is swingable to an out-of-the-way 7 position when not in use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ship having a superior ice-breaking capacity while at the same time requiring less armor and power than conventional ice breakers.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an icebreaking ship which does not use its weight and power to accomplish its mission.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an ice-breaking attachment for merchant type ships that is readily attachable and removable as required.

An even further object of the present invention is to provide an armored, inflatable ice stressing means for use in ship icebreaking operations.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide an armored, toothed, stressing means for breaking ice on frozen but otherwise navigable waters.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an elongated, toothed, arm chamber member for stressing ice in an upward direction.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a swingable, extensible ice shattering member in combination with an ice stressing means.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a means to break ice on either side of a ship's bow as well as in front of the same.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an icebreaking attachment for ships wherein air type chisel hammer is used in the cracking operation.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and obvious from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings which are merely illustrative of such invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partially cut-away side elevational view of the bow portion of a merchant type ship with the ice breaking system of the present invention mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the stressing and cracking members of the present invention in operative position;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the stressing member pivotal attachment to the ship's side; and

FIG. 4 is a cut-away lateral sectional view of the stressing member air bag and armor plate.

With further reference to the drawings, an ocean going ship indicated generally at 10 has a standard bow portion 11. To the sides 12 of this bow portion are oppositely disposed a pair of pivot connections indicated generally at 14.

These pivot connections are composed of an inner plate 15 and an outer plate 16 which are connected to each other by means such as bolts 17 which pass through the sides 12 of the ship and clamp such plates tightly on either side thereof.

The outer plate 16 has an outwardly projecting gudgeon l8 composed of a generally circular bearing surface 19 and a shoulder 20. On the end of gudgeon 18 is a hub plate 21 which may be removably secured thereto by means such as bolts 22.

A pair of generally parallely disposed stressing member support arms indicated generally at 23 terminate at one end adjacent pivot connection 14. This end of each of the support arms has a pair of flanges 24 which laterally project therefrom and the end portion has a notch therein which confonns to the bearing surface 19 of a gudgeon 18. A securing plate 24 also has a notch in the center thereof to snugly conform with bearing surface 19. This securing plate is removably attached to flanges 24 of each of these support amts 23 by means such as bolts 26.

Disposed between the forward portions 23' of support arms 23, and secured thereto by means of spacers 27, is an ice stressing member indicated generally at 28.

The stressing member is composed of an armored prow portion 29 formed from specially hardened alloy such as nickelsteel or titanium. Secured to the prow portion is an elongated, tank shaped, metal housing constructed also from an armor plate type alloy. It is to the sides of this housing that the spacers 27 are attached.

Extending longitudinally along the bottom portion of the housing 30 is an outwardly projecting ridge 31 with an associated interior groove 32, particularly as seen in FIG. 4. The purpose of this elongated ridge-groove is two-fold: First, it reinforces the lower side portions of the housing 30 and secondly, it notchingly secures the air chamber bladder 33 to the interior of the housing 30 as will hereinafter be described in more detail.

Either removably or fixedly secured to the upper portion of housing 30 are a plurality of large teeth 34. Each of these teeth are preferable between 6 and 10 feet high with a spacing from point to point of ten feet or greater. These teeth are constructed from specially hardened alloys and can be honed to have relatively sharp knife edges and tip points.

An opening is provided in one side of the rear portion of the housing 30 to allow an air line 35 running interiorly of one of the support arms 23 from its associated pivot connection 14 to 1 pass into the interior of such housing without being exposed exteriorly thereof. The reason for this interior air line routing is obvious in that during actual use of the device of the present invention large, sharp masses of broken ice will be encountered.

Air line 35 passes under shield 36 and connects to the axially disposed channel within gudgeon l8 and inner and outer plates and 16. The interior end of this channel 37 is secured to one end of interior air line 38. The other end of this last mentioned air line is operatively connected to any convenient source of compressed air (not shown). To prevent not only water leaks between the ship's hull l2 and the inner and outer plates 15 and 16, but also to assure that air channel 37 is impervious to leaks, a pair of gaskets 39 is provided in the usual manner, particularly as seen in FIG. 2.

Of a shape to generally conform to the interior configuration of housing 30 is air chamber bladder 33. Disposed longitudinally along the lower portion of this bladder is an outwardly projecting ridge 40 with reinforcing steel members 41 embedded therein. The purpose of these ridges is to engage housing grooves 32 thus effectively locking the bladder within the housing.

The bladder itself is constructed of thick, tough, reinforced, impervious material such as fiberglas reinforced rubber. Because of the importance of this bladder, spare units could be carried by the ship during cold weather operations.

Also, it is anticipated that a perforated bottom portion for housing 30 could be provided to protect the bladder while allowing water to compress the same when it is partially evacuated.

One or more eyelets, such as that disclosed at 42, are secured to housing 30. The standard cargo booms of the ship 10 can be used with their associated cables, pulleys and winches to raise the stressing member 28, by eyelets 42, from its operative underwater position shown in FIG. 1 to an out of the water position whenever clear water conditions are encountered. If so desired, it is, of course, possible to use well known hydraulic means to raise and lower the ice stressing member by its associated support arms.

Pivotably mounted on the forward deck 10' of the ship 10 in record player-arm fashion is an ice chipping and cracking member indicated generally at 43. This member pivots about a vertical axis in the area indicated generally at 44. Downwardly projecting from the deck into the hole of the vessel is sleeve bearing 45 which rotatively mounts hollow shaft 46. This shaft has fixedly secured on the lower end thereof a large bevel gear 47. A meshing bevel gear 48 is mounted on motor shaft 49 of controllable motor 50. This motor is powered by a source (not shown) and is controlled as to speed and direction of movement through line 51 from control panel 52.

The deck bearing plate 53 bearingly engages support plate 54 which is fixedly secured to shaft 46. The end of this last mentioned shaft is fixedly secured to outer arm housing 55, particularly as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. An inner arm housing is telescopically mounted within the outer arm housing and telescoping movement between the two is controlled by a rack 57 secured to the inner housing and a pinion 58 secured to the outer housing. This pinion can be activated either by a reversible electric motor such as that shown schematically at 59 or by hydraulic means or hand cranks (not shown).

The end of outer housing 55 adjacent the pivotable axis 44 is open and can be entered by climbing ladder 59. A door such as that shown in dotted lines at 60 can be included to prevent cold air from entering the housing when personnel are not passing through the opening. At the end of the inner housing opposite door 60 is mounted a control room 61. The interior of this control room communicates with the inner housing so that personnel may enter such room through the passageway provided through the inner and outer housings 55 and 56. The control room has a plurality of observation ports 61' provided in the walls thereof for use during ice cracking operations.

A guide sleeve 62 is secured to the bottom of the control room and projects upwardly thereinto. Air hammer shaft 63 is telescopingly mounted in sleeve 62 and is motivated selectively upwardly or downwardly by means such as rack 64 secured to the shaft 63 and pinion 65 activated by means such as motor 65' shown in schematic form. This motors direction and speed would be controlled from control panel 52 as is motor 58'. Mounted on the lower end of shaft 63 is a conventional air hammer 66, shown in schematic form, with a chisel type impact implement 67 operatively secured thereto.

An air line 68 preferably of the bifurcated type, is operatively attached to air hammer 66 at one end and to control panel 52 at the other end. A second air line 69 preferably also of biased, bifurcated construction extends from control panel 52 to a standard source of compressed air (not shown).

OPERATION In actual operation of the ice breaking equipment of the present invention, ice chipping and cracking member 43 is rotatively mounted on deck 10' of ship 10 and can be swung sternwardly to a position over such deck for storage during open water passage. Likewise, stressing member 28 is pivotably mounted on the sides 12 of the bow portion 11 of such ship and can be swung upwardly out of the water, and if so desired, over for deck storage in a semi-inverted position. Thus the ice breaking equipment does not in any way impede the speed or maneuverability of the ship while operating in obstruction free waters.

Once an ice floe is encountered with any substantial thickness of ice, the stressing member 28 is pivotably swung up and over the bow of the ship and into the water thereinfront to a depth below the ice to be encountered. The depth of this member, of course, can be adjusted either through mechanical means such as block and tackle secured to eyelets 42 or by increasing or decreasing the amount of air contained within air chamber 33 or a combination of these two means.

As the ship moves into engagement with the ice, bladder 33 is inflated with compressed air through line 35 to create an upward biasing of the ice. In relatively thin ice of only a few feet in thickness, this upwardly biasing movement will crack the same so that the ship 10 may move forward therethrough. Thus by intermittingly raising and lowering the ice stressing member 28 with its associated upwardly projecting teeth 34, a path through moderately thick ice can be made.

When ice is encountered that is too thick for the stressing member 28 to readily crack and break up, the auxiliary ice cracking member 43 is brought into play. From its storage position on the deck of the ship 10, any cradling associated with such member is removed or cleared. Operating personnel can then enter the control room 61 by entering door 60 and passing through the hollow housings 55 and 56.

From the control panel 52, motor 50 is activated in the desired direction so that bevel gear 48 turns its meshing gear 47 to rotate shaft 46 within sleeve 45 thus swinging the entire cracking member 43 about axis 44. When the control room 61 has swung to a forwardly projecting position over the ice stressing member 28, motor 50 is stopped and motor 58' is activated. This rotates pinion 58 which, being in operative engagernent with rack 57, telescopically'extends member 43 by outwardly sliding inner housing 56 from outer housing 55.

Once the control room 61 and its associated impact implement 67 is over the unbroken ice as well as over one of the valleys between the points of teeth 34, the control panel deactivates motor 58'. Motor 65 is then activated by control panel 52 to rotate pinion 65 in cooperative engagement with rack 64. This rack moves shaft 63 within sleeve 64 downwardly until chisel implement 67 is in downwardly biased contact with the upper surface of the ice. The impact implement 66 is then activated from control panel 62 to cause the implement 67 to move up and down with the well known action of an air type impact hammer.

Even thick ice, when ice biased by the tips of teeth 34 in an upwardly direction with the chisel implement biased downwardly in the valley therebetween, combined with the reciprocating, pounding effect of the chiseling implement will be cracked and shattered. As the ice breaks, motor 65 is reversed and shaft 63 is telescopically retracted. Since the air line 68 to air hammer 66 is bifurcated, it will automatically retract itself as the shaft is raised. Thus, it can be seen that the ship moves forward with the impact implement 67 being periodically lowered to crack the ice that is stressed by member 28.

On occasion, ice build-ups may be encountered on either side of stressing member 28 or even on the side of or slightly behind the bow portion 11. In this case, control room 61 can be swung and extended or retracted as necessary to be positioned over the trouble spot. It can then reduce the build-up to harmless size chunks of ice with its chiseling mechanism.

When the ice flow has been cleared and ice free water entered, the housing 55 and 56 can be retracted as well as shaft 63 within sleeve 62. The motor 50 can then be used to swing control room 61 to an out of the way location over the deck of the ship 10. The ice stressing member 28 can then be raised as heretofore described, pivoting about the gudgeons 18 on either side 12 of the ships hull. Once member 28 is clear of the water, the ship can cruise at its normal open water speed thus taking full advantage of her efficient hull design and unimpeded by ice breaking equipment or configuration.

With the combined use of the ice breaking means of the present invention cargo type ships can readily pass through such difficult areas as the Northwest Passage along the northern coast of Canada and not only readily remove large quantities of oil located on the northem slopes of Alaska but also can save some 4,000 miles of travel between such cities as London and Tokyo.

The pivot of arm 43 can, of course, be either a free swinging pivot with the entire member being swung by using the standard block and tackle equipment found on ocean going ships, or a powered, pivoting mechanism such as that used to move gun turrets on naval ships could be used if this appears advantageous over the motivating mechanism hereinabove described.

Although not specifically shown, it is, of course, anticipated that the chiseling and cracking member 67 could be operatively mounted on an extensible or foldable boom controlled from the deck of the ship to give generally the same chiseling and cracking effect as the member 43 shown. This latter arrangement is, of course, well known in the art although additional weights would probably be necessary to create the impact force of the downwardly biased shaft 63 with the weight of the control room 61 stabilizing the same.

Should it be deemed desirable, the hull of the ship can, of course, be reinforced to better withstand the sometimes great pressure exerted against it by the ice floe during passage therethrough.

From the above, it is obvious that the present invention has the advantage of allowing a merchant type ship with an unreinforced bull to move steadily through moderately frozen seas and to crack itself through thickly frozen ice floes without backing down or ramming its way therethrough. The present invention also has the advantage of allowing a conventional merchant type ship to take full advantage of its streamlined hull design while cruising in open water and also allowing it to move through frozen ice floes without damage to such hull.

The terms upper," lower," bottom, top" and so forth have been used herein merely for the convenience to describe the ice breaking system of the present invention and its parts as oriented in the drawings. It is to be understood. however, that these terms are in no way limiting to the invention since the system may obviously be disposed in many different positions when it is in use.

The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

l. A means for breaking a channel through ice which has formed over navigable waters comprising; an ice stressing means operatively connected to the bow of a ship and extending below the ice formation, said stressing means including a plurality of upwardly projecting teeth of substantial size secured to said stressing means for contact with the underside of said ice formation; means for biasing said stressing means upwardly in contact with the underside of said ice; means cooperating with said stressing means operatively connected to said ship and extending above the ice formation; and means extending from said last mentioned means to impactively contact the upper surface of said formation whereby the ice stressed by said stressing means may be cracked and broken.

2. A means for breaking a channel through ice which has formed over navigable waters comprising: an ice stressing means operatively connected to the bow of a ship and extending below the ice formation; means for biasing said stressing means upwardly in contact with the underside of said ice, at least part of the means for biasing the stressing means upwardly in contact with the ice is an inflatable, bladder type air chamber; means cooperating with said stressing means operatively connected to said ship and extending above the ice formation; and means extending from said last mentioned means to impactively contact the upper surface of said formation whereby the ice stressed by said stressing means may be cracked and broken.

3. A means for breaking a channel through ice which has formed over navigable waters comprising: an ice stressing means operatively connected to the bow of a ship and extending below the ice formation; means for biasing said stressing means upwardly in contact with the underside of said ice; means cooperating with said stressing means operatively connected to said ship and extending above the ice formation; and an air driven type chisel implement means extending from said last mentioned means to impactively contact the upper surface of said formation whereby the ice stressed by said stressing means may be cracked and broken.

4. A means for breaking a channel through an ice formation on navigable waters comprising: an ice stressing means operatively connected to the bow of a ship and extending below the ice formation, said means including a plurality of upwardly projecting teeth of substantial size secured to such means for contact with the underside of the ice; means for biasing said first mentioned means upwardly in stressing contact with the underside of said formation; means cooperating with said stressing means operatively connected to said ship and extend ing above said formation; and means operatively connected to said last mentioned means to impactively strike the upper surface of said formation whereby said ice will crack and break.

5. The means of claim 4 wherein the striking means is directed at a point between said teeth.

6. The means of claim 4 wherein at least part of the means for biasing said stressing means upwardly is an inflatable, bladder type, air chamber.

7. The means of claim 4 wherein at least part of the means for biasing the stressing means upwardly into contact with the ice is a mechanical means.

8. The means of claim 4 wherein the means for impactively striking the upper surface of the ice is an air driven, impact type, chisel means. 

1. A means for breaking a channel through ice which has formed over navigable waters comprising; an ice stressing means operatively connected to the bow of a ship and extending below the ice formation, said stressing means including a plurality of upwardly projecting teeth of substantial size secured to said stressing means for contact with the underside of said ice formation; means for biasing said stressing means upwardly in contact with the underside of said ice; means cooperating with said stressing means operatively connected to said ship and extending above the ice formation; and means extending from said last mentioned means to impactively contact the upper surface of said formation whereby the ice stressed by said stressing means may be cracked and broken.
 2. A means for breaking a channel through ice which has formed over navigable waters comprising: an ice stressing means operatively connected to the bow of a ship and extending below the ice formation; means for biasing said stressing means upwardly in contact with the underside of said ice, at least part of the means for biasing the stressing means upwardly in contact with the ice is an inflatable, bladder type air chamber; means cooperating with said stressing means operatively connected to said ship and extending above the ice formation; and means extending from said last mentioned means to impactively contact the upper surface of said formation whereby the ice stressed by said stressing means may be cracked and broken.
 3. A means for breaking a channel through ice which has formed over navigable waters comprising: an ice stressing means operatively connected to the bow of a ship And extending below the ice formation; means for biasing said stressing means upwardly in contact with the underside of said ice; means cooperating with said stressing means operatively connected to said ship and extending above the ice formation; and an air driven type chisel implement means extending from said last mentioned means to impactively contact the upper surface of said formation whereby the ice stressed by said stressing means may be cracked and broken.
 4. A means for breaking a channel through an ice formation on navigable waters comprising: an ice stressing means operatively connected to the bow of a ship and extending below the ice formation, said means including a plurality of upwardly projecting teeth of substantial size secured to such means for contact with the underside of the ice; means for biasing said first mentioned means upwardly in stressing contact with the underside of said formation; means cooperating with said stressing means operatively connected to said ship and extending above said formation; and means operatively connected to said last mentioned means to impactively strike the upper surface of said formation whereby said ice will crack and break.
 5. The means of claim 4 wherein the striking means is directed at a point between said teeth.
 6. The means of claim 4 wherein at least part of the means for biasing said stressing means upwardly is an inflatable, bladder type, air chamber.
 7. The means of claim 4 wherein at least part of the means for biasing the stressing means upwardly into contact with the ice is a mechanical means.
 8. The means of claim 4 wherein the means for impactively striking the upper surface of the ice is an air driven, impact type, chisel means. 